I’m so excited to finally be the proud owner of a Red KitchenAid Mixer! I have wanted one of these for so very long, and I finally took the plunge, waited for the sale, and bought one!

I’m so glad I did! I love it!

While I was at it, I also thought it might be a good time to update the old muffin pan (I really should have taken a picture of the old one, it was in really bad shape), and buy a good quality, new one. I did a little research, and read that the Williams Sonoma brand was one of the best around, so again….I took the plunge.

What a fantastic decision this turned out to be! Who knew that good quality cookware could make such a difference, and also has an effect on the end product?

Now I know.

Well, I am one happy person with my new toys, and I’m looking forward to many new adventures in cooking and baking this year!

It’s fun, interesting, and often times challenging. You don’t have to be a pro, (at least I hope you don’t, because I certainly am not), and there aren’t any judges. So come on, give it a try, and try something new!

This was the challenge for the week: An artfully executed minimalist photograph is anything but mundane. It illustrates a moment in time, or an artistic perspective, with simplicity and grace. Minimalist photography is characterized by a large portion of negative space, a fairly monochromatic color palette with good contrast, and an interesting subject that is able to stand on its own to capture the interest of the viewer. At first thought, it may seem like it would be easy to shoot an engaging minimalist photograph, when indeed it can often be the opposite. A minimalist photo can also effectively tell a story, in spite of its relative simplicity, and it is anything but “plain”.